Chapter 216
Chapter 216
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 216
Chapter Title: Arolle Cave
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The underground ruins we had been summoned to were called the Arolle Caves.
‘The place located on the border of the Solond Kingdom... This makes the second visit.’
My first visit had been with my hero party companions.
- Solond Kingdom's representative caves, with a total of 26 caverns.
That was according to Fride's explanation.
Caverns 1 through 13 were buried deep underground, and beneath them lay the temples, statues, and altars of an ancient primordial kingdom.
That primordial kingdom had worshiped the Lizard Lord Neigalas, they said. The king of that kingdom was Hircan, one of Neigalas's five kin.
- And caverns 14 through 26 were installed to suppress the abyss of that primordial kingdom.
The upper caverns were dominated by dragon-elephants of various sizes and shapes.
「Are you prepared?」
Now, the dragon-elephants of the crimson dragon legion that had left this land stood in majestic rows, and at the center of the cave coiled the statue of Shalesarum.
Shalesarum's flame floated in the air above that statue. It was said to amplify its power, even if just a little, in that manner.
Valensidis, who had laid Prince Obin at the base of the statue's pedestal, placed her hand on the boy's forehead.
「Hurry. If you fail to wake him from the dream, that body will revert to its primordial state.」
My task was to seal away Obin, whose primordialization was progressing moment by moment even now.
No telling when he might rampage... So I formed the seal of Binding and spread a square barrier around him.
Aki approached me last, rubbing her face against my arm.
“Abat, Aki go come back.”
“Yeah, do your best.”
“No hurt okay? Got it?”
“Everything's fine except why are you talking like you're above me? If you're gonna use polite speech, stick to it. If casual, then just casual.”
“Got it sir.”
Every time I stroked Aki's head, every time I heard her grumble 'abuu,' a fresh, heartwarming sensation struck my chest.
It wasn't favoritism, but she was definitely different from Setsunen. Perhaps because of the soul of Alakishi dwelling within her.
As Valensidis drew in a quiet breath and exhaled, Shalesarum's flame blazed dazzlingly, incomparable to my own power.
“……!”
I instinctively closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, Shalesarum and Aki had vanished, and Valensidis had collapsed beside Obin.
‘Connected to the dream... Please don't be late, Valensidis.’
* * *
Valensidis, regaining consciousness, found herself in the palace reflecting the sunlight brilliantly.
‘The Sun Palace, Bara.’
Solond Kingdom's historic capital.
Judging by the sharp security, it seemed to be near the inner palace where the royals resided.
True to her specialty in stealth, Valensidis lightly fanned herself, hiding her body in shadows.
- You must not be detected by the dream's inhabitants until the right moment arrives.
Shalesarum had warned her as such.
- The moment the dream judges you as a foreign entity, the situation will worsen. And the dream's master will fail to recognize you, pushing you away.
Had there been real palace guards and court mages, infiltration wouldn't have been so simple, but since it was a dream manifestation, the security wasn't as tight as reality.
“Hahaha, come here!”
“Try to catch me, Your Majesty.”
As she passed by the palace front, she heard the king's excited voice amid debauchery with over a dozen women.
Solond's previous king, Rakabir.
He was infamous for wielding tyrannical oppression for his own extravagance, earning the resentment of all his subjects.
‘If there was a pretty maiden, he dragged her into his harem, and to renovate the palace to his tastes, he nearly tripled taxes.’
There was talk that he hadn't always been that way, driven mad by the loss after his queen bore the kingdom's heir prince as a mute.
However, the gods were not heartless; Rakabir died suddenly of heart disease in his thirties around the time the plague began spreading.
No proper prince could have been born under such a king.
‘Royals are like pests that should be eradicated from this world.’
And yet, his disciple?
How could you correct the inherent nature they were born with? They were a breed apart from nobles.
‘Enough. Focus on the mission, Valensidis.’
She sensed Obin's presence—the center of the dream—from the central palace where the queen resided.
“Come here, Prince.”
Hiding in the shadows, Valensidis infiltrated the central palace interior easily, beholding the dream's scenery from which Obin could not escape.
“Hold him once.”
Rather than a bed, it was closer to a sickbed; a frail, slender woman leaned against the headboard.
She wasn't in elegant, ornate queenly garb but patient clothes, cradling a baby in her arms.
“Support his neck when holding. Gently, and tenderly.”
Obin hesitated awkwardly before approaching and carefully took the baby.
“Prince, I will tell you why you were born into the status of prince.”
“Ah, ahh?”
“To care for and serve the people. Not to lord over them like your father.”
At that teaching, Valensidis unwittingly swallowed.
If the king and nobles had even a shred of compassion for the people's plight, if they had hearts like dragons.
This world would have been far more beautiful, and she wouldn't have had to kill her master with her own hands.
“The people are just like that baby. Frail, powerless, weak. The gods made you a prince to protect and nurture such ones.”
“……!”
“That is the mission you must uphold to your last day as a royal bearing the blood and will of Archmage Rigwind. Prince, engrave it upon your heart for life.”
“Ah, ahh...!”
“This is a promise with your mother now. To become a kind king, even if not a great one.”
Mute and unable to speak, Obin could only nod vigorously, his face flushed.
The queen, with arms slender as bones, hugged the prince holding the princess tightly.
As if cradling the world's most precious treasure.
“You will face much despair in life, but you will surely meet those who recognize your worth. For you are kinder than any other.”
“…….”
“I'm sorry for bearing you unable to speak. Thank you truly for calling such a failure 'mother.' Now, I entrust the princess to you.”
Tears welled in the queen's eyes holding Obin, and in Obin's eyes held in her arms.
The prince had surely intuited it. Just as on the day he last spent with his master.
That this was the end... Perhaps from shared kinship, Valensidis felt a solemnity in her heart.
“Your Highness, we shall protect you with our all.”
The queen's wisdom proved true; the guard warriors followed Obin as one.
From childhood, Obin traveled the kingdom, surveying the people's plights, and it was this habit that uncovered Elamas's plot.
The moment the prince learned of it, Elamas poisoned the king, and the prince disguised fleeing the kingdom without coronation.
On the journey seeking Rigwind's Heavenly Wave Legacy, amid the Dawn Brigade's pursuit, the warriors escorting Obin fell one by one.
“Please, become a great king...”
“Do not mind us, hasten to preserve your royal body...”
“You must escape...”
Contrary to Valensidis's assumption, the prince hadn't let the warriors die in his stead. They had offered their lives willingly.
The last was Bisram, and...
The scene shifted to a place familiar even to Valensidis.
‘The Starting City, Orvenheim.’
The prince's world, grasping the dying old warrior's hand and suppressing sobs, began darkening once more.
‘The dream ending?’
No, it couldn't be that easy.
The darkness lifted in an instant, unfolding the scenery of Sun City Bara anew.
Obin had chosen to remain in this dream. In the time when his precious ones still lingered. In the sweet illusion called the past.
“Stop, mute prince.”
Valensidis finally emerged from the shadows.
Obin was crossing the central palace courtyard. Likely joyful at the thought of meeting his mother.
She couldn't let it stand.
“Do you intend to linger in the past like this? In endlessly meaningless repeating time?”
“……?”
“What meaning is there in that?”
Here lay the problem.
Obin either didn't recognize Valensidis or eyed her warily, stepping back hesitantly.
‘The past timeframe, so no memories?’
Almost simultaneously as Valensidis furrowed her brow, the dream's elements surged to expel the intruding foreign entity.
“Intruder!”
“Protect Her Majesty the Queen and His Highness the Prince!”
Solond Kingdom's royal guard.
The sharp sword-wielding warriors surrounded Valensidis in an instant, blades aimed at her.
‘Damn, no time...’
Escaping wasn't an issue, but outside, Obin's body was slowly reverting to primordial. The moment it fully did, all was lost.
* * *
Though it looked like I was pouring all my power into maintaining the barrier, my mind was elsewhere entirely.
- I am Rista Alter Shyrfang, a FakeWarrior affiliated with the Light Dragon Church.
Even now, closing my eyes brought it vividly to mind.
My name meant spring breeze, but in truth, the one blowing like a spring breeze through my life was Rista.
If meeting the chancellor started my life, meeting that guy upended it entirely.
- World.
According to Shalesarum's explanation, Elamas's current ability was necromancy.
A forbidden art granting control over the resurrected flesh of the dead, bestowed directly by Neigalas, lord who eradicates death.
Whether to leave the deceased's memories in the revived body was at the necromancer's discretion...
- During the Black Sun Incident, Tureina took Lin's corpse, and Bureau Chief Ocelot took Rista's corpse and Shyrfang. Looks like they handed them to Elamas.
With Valensidis's testimony, it was beyond doubt: Elamas had revived Rista's body as his blade.
Because of me.
Yes, because of me.
Because I left a promise to return, Rista's flesh hadn't decayed, left in the papal vaults, leading to this...
“Aruu?”
Setsunen wriggled worriedly on my back, peeking over my shoulder. I pressed my cheek to her head reassuringly.
“Focusing power on maintaining the barrier and healing too. Setsunen's power is like a gentle healing touch.”
With the two healers' powers combined, bodily repair was absurdly fast.
Not absolute lifeform-level super-regeneration, but visibly, organs realigning, torn vessels and flesh stitching.
Setsunen tilted her head as if to say 'really?'
“Aruru?”
“Yeah, gentle touch.”
“Aruaru!”
Then thrust her fist energetically.
A bad habit learned from Aki.
“Our Nen is way more well-behaved than big sis Aki. If it was Aki, she'd have drenched my head by now.”
“Aru.”
Setsunen nodded solemnly in agreement.
Wait, this kid badmouthing her sister?
Not the time—shake head firmly... Gotta scold her properly.
“Hey.”
From the darkness, Miria opened her mouth with Rista's exact voice and face.
“I have something to ask.”
She always maintained a cold, serious demeanor, but this time her expression was graver than usual.
Back straight, fist pressed to chest, glaring at me fixedly.
As if she had something to say, she opened and closed her mouth repeatedly before her voice emerged.
“Who the hell are you?”